ISSUED 12 July 2022
We are entering a critical phase of South Africa’s digitisation and there is a great risk the outcome will see increased inequality and further limited access to information and free expression for South Africa’s majority.
On Thursday 14 July representatives of over 80 civil society organisations will gather to launch Friends of a Free Internet – to campaign for a communication commons that is ‘free as in Mahala and free as in freedom’.
Internet access is a fundamental right that enables other rights and serves as an economic multiplier creating decent jobs and delivering services to address South Africa’s deepening social and economic crisis. Yet over 40% of people still have no internet access and only 8.3% of households have access to high speed broadband – the vast majority remain hostage of MTN, Vodacom, Telkom & CellC.
The internet must be accessible to everyone free of charge. Yetu Infotech Collective’s Mark Weinberg explains: “Mahala is the popular South Africa phrase meaning no cost to the end-user. The actual costs of providing internet services must be paid in the same way end-users enjoy roads and libraries for free. The internet is a public good. We should not pay for the massive profits that the corporations are extracting from the public.”
The licence conditions of the 2022 spectrum auction commit the mobile corporations to cover over 97% of South Africa, connect public buildings to broadband (schools, clinics, etc) and offer free access to non-profit websites. The Minister of Communications has also promised 10GB/month free data to every household. However, mobile corporations have a long history of putting profit before people and opting to pay fines rather than extend coverage to the marginalised majority. The Government has consistently missed its connectivity targets.
Erna Curry of the Peoples Media Consortium expands: “These commitments could be a good start towards a Free Internet. But we’ve heard promises of a better life before. We know after 27 hard years of ANC rule that little will change without active movements making demands and holding the state accountable.”
We are exposed to constant online surveillance as corporations harvest our personal information and the South African government has recently passed the Internet Censorship Act, has not amended its unconstitutional surveillance laws, and hate speech law is in the pipeline.
Erna Curry says “The current internet is not fit for democratic purposes. We need safe and secure channels to ensure media freedom, protect whistleblowers, and enable the right to privacy. Instead we are being pushed into an open air prison where our every action is monitored.”
We urgently need a ‘digital new deal’ that puts people and the planet before profit and the authoritarian power of the ruling elite.
Mark Weinberg adds “We must put people and the planet before profit and authoritarian power. We must find democratic solutions to the socio-economic and environmental challenges we face. A Free Internet is critical to finding democratic solutions.”
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Friends of a Free Internet is an initiative of the People’s Media Consortium and Yetu InfoTech Collective.
We invite the media to join the conference either physically or online. See the full programme online here.
The People’s Media Consortium (PMC) is a partnership of leading human, environmental, and labour rights organisations working to strengthen the media and organising capacity of poor communities and unemployed/vulnerable workers in South Africa to take up their own interests through democratic mass media interventions – http://peoplesmedia.africa/
The Yetu Infotech Collective (Yetu) aims to grow the internet from below by enabling progressive civil society organisations to maximise the benefits of information technologies while mitigating the risks – https://yetu.coop/
